Day 51

Arianna adjusts the knot at the bottom of her yellow crop top and turns around, parting her hair from the middle and braids a small part of it.

I cross my legs and put my left elbows on my knee and prop my chin on it.

"We missed you," she says in a matter-of-fact tone, and studies me through the mirror.

"I was here." I stare at her with confusion, drawing my eyebrows together.

She rolls her eyes, "You know what I mean. And no, you weren't." She pins the braid and ties it up along with the rest of her flowing hair on her left side. She spins and faces me. "You were here physically but not actually. So it's good to have you back," she offers a smile and I return it.

I try to hide my surprise, I wasn't expecting to hear that.

That night, after Adrien and I listened to music, it was the first time I could sleep with no interruptions. And yesterday the two of us watched the remaining episodes of Stranger Things the entire way from Bucharest to here and spent the night with seeing three Star Wars films. Maybe that lifted my mood? For whatever reasons, today I'm much better. Even though I only slept for four hours and woke up early.

I never thought watching movies with someone could be this fun. Not to mention that person being Adrien!

Arianna begins braiding the other side of her hair similar to the one she just finished.

"Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer it though, there's no pressure." She questions as her hands continue to do their work.

I wonder how she talks and works on her hair simultaneously. I sometimes forget to breathe while solving a hard question and halfway through it realize the lack of oxygen in my system.

With a smile, I nod at her.

"I'm curious... where were your parents and yourself the night of Jay's accident?" she asks and finishes styling her hair. "Of course no need to answer it if you don't want to," she adds, her fingers playing with the pink tips of her twin tails.

I tilt my head, chewing my lip. Her curiosity makes sense. After all, Jace was her cousin. They were really close. But why now? What if Adrien has said something? Or perhaps she feels comfortable enough with me to bring up the topic.

"I was at home," I respond with caution, and add "most of it," so it'd be as honest as possible.

She nods and walks to the nightstand, picking up her makeup bag and returns to the mirror. She pulls out what looks like a brush and then an eyeshadow palette. Arianna bends down and puts down the bag. Angles to me, but surveying the colors. She rubs the brush against the orange powder. A sigh falls on her lips, "Your parents were there that night. Were they truly in an operation together at the same time?" in a quiet tone, she queries.

I gaze down at my fingernails and pick my chin from my hand. My fingers reach one another and start fidgeting, my shoulders hunch and I have no answer to give her.

"I guess," I murmur.

I wonder what they would think if they find out they were over me, trying to clean up the mess I'd created. Maybe he really did die because of me.

"I'm not judging. They told Uncle that Jay had died before the ambulance even made it there. But... your parents are famous for being able to treat the most hopeless of cases. Your dad kept our grandpa alive for three years when every other doctor was saying it was impossible," she rambles.

With hesitance, I look up and meet her blue eyes.

"I'm sorry if I-" she starts but I shake my head.

"I understand, anyone would have been curious," I interrupt her.

She flashes a grateful smile at me and spins, starting to carefully paint her eyelid.

"His death was so sudden. None of us could believe it. My family wasn't in New York. We had moved to Chicago because of my dad's business, but then the accident happened and Dad had to fix things in there before moving back to help Uncle. He was in no shape of doing anything work-related," she explains as she paints each of her eyelids. "The whole family got fucked," she adds as she regards her palette. Bending down, she picks another brush and brushes it against yellow.

Jace shouldn't have passed away. The number of people affected by it one way or the other, it's agonizing.

I wish matters had gone down a different path. Where Jace would've gotten to my house safely and Avery would have told him to leave, and he would've reached his home in complete health.

"I suppose I just want to make sense of that night by finding out bits and pieces," she admits. I feel a pang of pain shoot through my heart.

"What night?" Adrien's voice startles us.

"For fuck's sake, knock before walking into my room," Arianna snarls at him. He shrugs and nods at my direction, a smile tugging on his mouth.

He plops down on the loveseat, placing his iPad on his lap.

"What do you want?" she snaps, putting her free hand on her hip.

"Came to show you the result of the pictures you forced me to edit," he declares. With a satisfied grin, he adds, "You weren't expecting me to get it done this fast,"

She rolls her eyes and rounds to the mirror, continuing with her task.

"So what were you talking about?" Adrien questions, watching between me and Arianna with expectancy.

I chew my bottom lip as she sighs and mutters, "The night of Jay's accident,"

The smile falls from his face as he stares at her, his mouth shaping into an O. He blinks and asks, "What about that night?" with furrowed brows.

She shrugs and his eyes move to me.

"I think I have a right to know," he asserts, his gaze fixed on me.

She scowls. "Fine," she gives in with irritation. "I asked her where she was that night, and her parents,"

"And why would you ask that?" he shoots. Finally, looking away from me to scrutinize Arianna.

"Because I was curious," she fires at him and he peers at her.

Arianna raises her eyebrows in a challenging way and lifts a shoulder. She picks a different brush from her makeup bag and works on her eyeshadow.

"Liar," Adrien announces, making her halt.

"That was exactly what I did, don't believe me? Eleanor, isn't that we were saying?" she turns to me, urging me to back her up, a weird look in her features... as if she's frantic.

With hesitance, I nod.

He crosses his arms, glances at me before fixing his attention on Arianna. "I meant the second part. When did you ever ask anything out of curiosity?" he glares at her before adding, "So, what's going on?"

"Fine, Sherlock," she presses her lips together and sets aside the brush. Her eyeshadows a perfect blend of yellow turning to orange.

She shifts her weight from one leg to the other, her fingers twirling the end of her twintail. With a sharp inhale she starts, "I hooked up with the nurse who was there that night about a week after we returned to New York,"

Adrien gapes. Arianna shrugs as if it's nothing, and waves her hand in a dismissive manner. She continues, "Anyway, she mentioned she saw Theodor there too," she pauses and peeks at me.

Now I need to recall every word I told Adrien in Geneva on the rooftop. Great.

"And Eleanor's mother apparently was screaming her lungs out somewhere in the hospital, and her father was there too," she explains. Exhaling a deep breath, she puts both of her hands on her hips. "And then her dad calls in her mom, and Theodor stays there for a while," Arianna's voice trails down and then she looks at me. Like she knows something but is not sharing.

My breathing quickens, my fingers fidgeting of their own accord.

"I'm not getting the point here. So what he was there? Or any other thing that you said," Adrien states, his face void of any emotion.

"You don't want to know, fine. But I do," she reasons.

"What difference does it make now?" he snaps, his calm demeanor starting to slip away.

Arianna lifts a shoulder, "I just need to put the pieces together," she mumbles.

"Ri, it wasn't an open murder case. A drunk truck driver didn't see his car, end of the story," Adrien declares, glowering at her.

"Adi, two ambulances arrived at the hospital, a few minutes apart. Jay was in the first one and exactly with the second ambulance, El's mom shows up. They apparently inform her to check on him, but she screams profanities at the staff. Later her dad reaches there and they don't even tell him about Jace. He rushes to a room and afterwards calls in her mother. The nurse I hooked up with was scared to say anything. She told me if the news got out, Ellie's parents might find out the source and fire her," she explains.

With each word, my heartbeat accelerates. It gets so loud that when Arianna's words finish, the only sound in my ears is the thudding sound.

Realization dawns on me. Mom and Dad warned everyone to keep it a secret, like a nasty sickness you'd be ashamed of sharing.

I'm dirt to their shining reputation. It makes sense why both of them were infuriated with me.

But at least they stopped word from spreading. No one found out. So I can't really be fussing about it.

When I look up from my hands, Adrien's gaze is fixed on me, studying me. I push my glasses up my nose.

There is no way out of it.

"What?" Arianna demands, looking between us. "You know something. Is that why you're telling me to stop asking?" she accuses Adrien.

He ignores her, "Didn't you get sick around that time?" he disputes with narrowed eyes.

I can't remember if I mentioned it was that night. Maybe he means in the order of the day rather than hour?

"You were unwell? When? How?" Arianna waits for an answer with raised eyebrows.

I shift uncomfortably on her bed. My lips part as I try to form a good explanation.

"Was it the same night?" she asks softer than before.

"Yeah," I nod and Arianna's features soften but Adrien narrows his eyes.

"What is wrong with you? Don't stare at her like that," she snaps.

He turns a deaf ear to her, "You were so ill that your whole family had to be there?" he queries.

"Seriously, which wouldn't?" Arianna points out.

"That's not what I meant," he notes. His gaze on me. "I have little knowledge about biology, but I know stomach ulcer has nothing to do with a brain or heart surgeon. Even if you'd messed up your pills that added to the pile. Yet, it was out of your parents' hands. And if you got there with them, it only makes sense why your mom refused to check on Jay... but then why did your dad rush off to you? He couldn't have done anything for you. Or why did he call in your mom?" he reflects, and with each question, I find myself more at a loss for words.

But I'm aware of one fact and I say it out loud, "I don't know,"

Theodor told me Dad called a friend of his who had traveled to UK for experimental operation and research. Dragged him back to New York so they would handle my case together and discover a way to bring me out of the coma sooner.

I also heard from the nurses if my parents hadn't taken everything under their own control, the chances of me making out of it would have been next to impossible. Apparently Mom stabilized my heart, stopped it any from potential heart failure or something like that.

But Dad couldn't do much. Or if he did, he never spoke of it. I cannot perceive why he rushed off to me. Maybe because nobody informed him about Jaceon. If they had, he would have gone to Jace. But then the entire hospital staff has a mixture of fear and respect towards him. Mom's reaction scared them enough they probably concluded to not tell him at all.

"Messed up your pills?" Arianna repeats, snapping me out of my chain of thoughts.

I blink and focus on her with furrowed brows and nod.

"Does that mean they were with you the whole night? I'm not judging. It justifies Theodor being there and your parents' action." She nods with comprehension.

With surprise, I stare at her. Not a single trace of judgment in her features.

"But how sick did you get, with messing up a few pills?" she wonders, concern lining her face.

I shrug and shift in my spot. "I fall ill pretty badly. It takes longer than average for me to regain my health, too. So I guess that's why Mom freaked out..." my voice trails down, my fingers fidgeting.

"Honestly, I'm not surprised," she shrugs and bends down, picking up a lipstick from her makeup bag. I tilt my head in confusion. "What? Look at yourself, you don't sleep, nor eat and you expect to recover fast?" she arches her eyebrows. With a playful smile, she adds, "You're basically living off of french fries and chocolate,"

A small smile drives to my lips. Still feeling Adrien's gaze burning through me, I glance at his direction.

"One thing's for sure, that night was an exceptionally fucked up night," she says after having her lips covered with nude lipstick.

Adrien agrees and finally looks away from me.

"And El, I don't blame you for anything, I was curious. Don't overthink it," she flashes a grin at me. I stare down at my hands, heat rush to my cheeks.

I guess she has figured out the way I act. Outcome of spending over a month every day, hours together. But somehow, I'm relieved too. Now the majority of the truth's out, and yet none of them is mad at me or blaming me. Adrien seems suspicious. But not a trace of accusation in his features, just curiosity. It's great not being blamed for their loss. Better than I had ever imagined.

A sense of calmness takes a hold of me as if a weight being lifted off of me. I allow myself to draw my eyes up.

"And no matter what, Jay was a careless driver too, he was never good at driving," Arianna adds as she shuffles around her makeup bag.

"He wasn't that awful," Adrien defends in a casual tone.

She looks up, squinting and giving a 'don't lie, we know the truth' kind of look and he shrugs, a small smile on his face.

"El, don't you agree?" Arianna's round eyes fix on me.

"I don't know," I mumble with uncertainty.

Her eyebrows jump up. "What do you mean? Didn't he ever drive you anywhere?"

I shrug. "We only went out with my driver. My dad didn't trust anyone's driving except our family driver. So we were only allowed to go with him," I explain.

Arianna's mouth shapes into an O before she recalls, "But Avery? She was always in her friends' cars,"

A breathy laugh stumbles out of me. "She never followed a rule, even for once,"

Arianna laughs. I glance at Adrien, his focus fixed on me, a soft grin tugging his lips upward.

"Yeah, she was rebellious, is she still the same? What she's been up to lately?" she asks.

"To be honest, I've no idea," I admit while fiddling my fingers together. Who isn't aware of its sister's plans? It's so embarrassing.

"She dropped out of Harvard, that's my last update from her," she speaks her thoughts.

"She was looking for a job before I left for Geneva," I inform.

She nods with comprehension. "I wish her luck finding a new job in the city of opportunities," she mumbles.

A smile cracks on my face. If I'm not mistaken, Arianna and Avery were friends. But that was in high school, ages ago.

She continues pulling out other makeup products and Adrien groans, "Aren't you done?"

"No," she snaps back.

Their usual banters start, while I watch and giggle at them, for the first time not feeling like an outcast.

+++

((Yes, another essential chapter in helping El feel better about herself.

I kinda feel weird about this chapter, like it needs more work and more editing and maybe rewriting, so tell me what you think about it.

What do you think about Arianna? The first chapter that she entered the book everyone disliked her XD so now I want to know, do you still dislike her?

Anyway, thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed it! Next update will be on Friday and I am so bloody excited about it! And can't wait for you guys to read it! Lots of love <3 ))